


we might be hallow (but we're brave)

by moons2stars



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: But a lot of fluff, F/M, JB and Betty friendship, JB is secretly soft for Betty, Nighttime anxiety, Some angst, We are ignoring some of canon because I can, and feelings, it runs in her family what can I say, just like her brother, they support each other, they work through it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22397329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moons2stars/pseuds/moons2stars
Summary: "How do you do it?" Jellybean asks as she looks up at Betty who is genuinely listening."What?" Betty asks softly."Balance the whole world on your shoulders."Or: We get the Jellybean and Betty friendship we deserve
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jellybean Jones, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	we might be hallow (but we're brave)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I'm sorry for any spelling errors. I hope you enjoy.

It started because they had the mutual feeling of dread for the night, and they both missed Jughead while he was away at Stone Wall Prep, but neither really talked about it. However, the deeper reason Jellybean and Betty started sleeping together when Jughead was away covered so much more than their struggles.

Every night at around one in the morning, Jb would cross the hall to Jughead and Betty's room, and crawl into the bed where Betty was usually waiting for her. Sometimes they would lay and talk about random things like school or cars or sometimes Jughead. Other nights they would instantly fall into a peaceful sleep with the troubles of their day washed away. However, on the rockier nights they would talk each other through night terrors. When Betty would wake up shouting, Jellybean would be right there to talk her down. When Jellybean would wake up with anxiety, Betty would spoon Jb until she fell back asleep. The nights became less and less terrible, and Jb actually started looking forward to sneak into Betty's bed.

That was until the first weekend Jughead came back approached.

The first few weekends of school, Jughead hasn't been coming home for the weekends due to the heavy load of work given, and adjustment. As much as Jb hates to admit it, she's been marginally relived. It wasn't like she didn't want her brother home, because though she would never admit it out loud she missed having him at home. Jb just knew that when Jughead came home, she'd have to be in her own bed, and the nights would go back to normal. Logically she knew that if she just told Jughead that she wanted to sleep with Betty for the night, he'd surrender his side of the bed. However, she knew it would make things complicated, and Jughead would ask questions about her night anxiety that she just wasn't prepared to answer. She also knew that both Betty and Jughead looked forward to anytime they got together, and even though they were obnoxiously affectionate, she didn't want to ruin their much valued time together. 

That didn't mean that when Friday came around she wouldn't be extra moody.

On Friday afternoon, when she got home from school Jughead was already at the house. It already seemed like Jughead and Betty were fully taking advantage of his home coming as the pair seemed to celebrating sprawled out on the couch in a heated make out. 

"Oh bleach my eyes!" Jb said as the pair sprang apart obviously not expecting her. It's not just that she doesn't want to see her brother with his hand up his girlfriends shirt or that she finds it gross that he can even get a girl, but also that she honestly doesn't understand what's so appealing about a relationship.

Everybody at her school seems to be getting a girlfriend or boyfriend while she finds her own company perfectly suiting. It's the seventh grade for crying out loud. Even though FP tells her that once she gets older she'll want a relationship, she sees all the problems it presents (especially for her parents) so she thinks she'll pass. She still wonders how Jughead is able to love so fearlessly after how their parent's marriage went. 

"Sorry Jb, we didn't realize you'd be home so early." Jughead said looking in any direction but hers as he scratches the back of his neck. Meanwhile Betty soothes the wrinkles out of her clothes, and offers an apologetic smile.

" Schools gets out the same time everyday Forsythe. Or did you forget once you went off to preppy school." Jellybean says with narrowed eyes. She doesn't know where this wave of anger comes from and she knows it's unfair to spit this at Jughead when he has just gotten home, but she's already committed to this reign of sudden anger so she might as well commit. 

"Jellybean that's not-" Jughead says with guilt in his eyes, and Jellybean instantly feels bad. 

"It's whatever." Jellybean says as she drops her bag and goes upstairs.

_The night it started, Jellybean was laying restlessly in her bed, staring at a speck on her ceiling at four in the morning as sleep alluded her. FP was on the night shift at work, and Jughead was still at Stonewall Prep until the weekend, so it was just her and Betty alone in the house which felt dreadfully empty. It's not that Jellybean didn't like being alone with Betty, because she liked having another girl in the house She always hated the night time, when everything seemed to be dreadfully still, and dark. she's tried all sorts of things to make the night easier, but none of them result in a proper night's rest._

_She hated the dark. Not that she would tell anyone that. She didn't want to be a baby, but the unknown the dark presented just utterly terrified her. Contrary to her brother's love for mysteries, Jellybean despised them. She liked having the answers to everything. She felt like mysteries were way too complicated, and they had too much layers. She hated the idea of waiting for the other shoe to drop or worse to never come at all. Growing up waiting was a common theme. Weather it was waiting for FP to come home or her parents to stop fighting she always found her self waiting for things to get better. Quite frankly she was tired of the sudden mysteries life came to offer. Flustered with her mind's stubbornness to stop running a mild a minute, Jb flopped onto her side to check her phone for the time. The numbers **4:30** glared up at her, as her phone back down ready to forfeit tonight's sleep when she heard yelling from across the hall. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears, and her fear heighten._

_Slowly, Jellybean stepped down from her bed, and grabs the bike pump she usually has by her bed. She knows it's not much of a defense, but she makes do. The yelling is alarmingly still persistent, and is coming from Jughead's room. On the footing of his door, Jellybean slowly opens the door and instantly freezes at the sight of Betty erratically moving in her bed, and shouting vague words she could barely make out. Jellybean wasn't sure what to do. She'd never really come across someone experiencing a night terror so she had no clue what to do. She slowly put down the pump, and padded over to the side of the bed._

_"Betty?" Jb said softly to no avail as she hovered her hand over Betty's shoulder not quite sure if she should touch her._

_"Betty, wake up." she said a little louder only to be met with the same result. Jellybean was starting to panic as Betty was only freaking out more. This time she gently put her hands on the blonde's shoulders to which Betty's eyes flew open and she almost flew off the bed._

_"Betty, it's just me, Jb." Jellybean said eyeing Betty carefully. Betty seemed to grasp what she was saying because she ever so slightly sat back, but she was still breathing very heavily, and looked distraught. Jellybean has never seen Betty like this in the time that she has known her. Betty always seemed to carry herself in poised control despite her comport around Jughead. Jellybean has never recalled Betty letting her emotions get the better of her._

_Throughout the summer, Jellybean barely saw Betty grieve for her late father, but now Jellybean wonders if she just wasn't looking hard enough to notice that Betty was still coping in her own way.Sure she knows that Betty has been though a lot (though no one really has explained to her what exactly that was just that her dad was an awful serial killer who is now dead as though to shield her from the terrors of the world.) but Betty has always had a quiet strength to her._

_"Oh shit! I'm sorry. Was I yelling in my sleep again?" Betty says with glassy eyes and a voice that is tinted with self loathing, and disappointment. Jellybean is trying to hide her shock from hearing Betty cuss as it's quite the contrast from her usually intelligent vocabulary, but all she can see is a small and scared child._

_"Yeah, but there is no need to be sorry. Are you okay?" Jellybean asks as she nervously bites her index nail. Betty seems to gather herself back together, and sit up straighter as she un clenches her fist and flexes against the blanket._

_"Yeah. I'm sorry I woke you." Betty said sheepishly. Jellybean wonders why Betty would feel the need to apologize for something so involuntary._

_"It's okay. I was up anyways." Jellybean says as she looks down at her feet._

_"Why? Are you okay?" Betty asks softly with concern in her tone, and Jellybean wonders how Betty could still be asking her if she's okay after the episode she just endured. Jellybean considers telling Betty all about her nighttime anxiety, but thinks better of it after examining the tired look in her eyes._

_"Yeah.I just couldn't sleep, but I think I'll be heading back to my room now if you're okay." Jellybean says as she reluctantly starts to head to the door._

_"Jellybean?" Betty calls out to her softly, like she's afraid to ask._

_"Yeah?" Jellybean asked looking back at Betty ._

_"Did you maybe want to sleep in here? Just for tonight". Betty looks so sheepish, and for a moment Jellybean is caught off guard at the proposal. Then she's just relived, that she has somebody to endure the night with._

_"Only if you want to. I just thought-" Betty stammers as she starts picking at her blanket. Jb begins to walk closer towards the bed, and gently pulls back the cover._

_"Yeah just as long as I get the corner." Jellybean says as she begins to crawl to her side of the bed._

_Once she is nestled in, Jb awkwardly tries to position herself to where she isn't spooning Betty. She doesn't want to make her fell unconformable. However, as if she senses Jb's internal dilemma, Betty turns on her back and puts her arms around Jb._

_"Is this okay?" Betty says as she exhales._

_"Yeah." Jb says as she nestles into the blonde's side. She feels so soft and warm, and in that moment, Jb never wants to leave. She didn't realize how much she craved to be nurtured._

_For the rest of the night the pair sleeps_ _peacefully._

_And every night after that._

Now Jellybean is currently sulking in her room when she hears a soft knock at her door.

"Go away Jughead." Jellybean says as she puts her headphones in.

"It's Betty." the soft feminine voice filtered through her door, and JB took out her headphones.

"Come in." Jellybean sighed as Betty slowly opened the door.

"Hey. I'm sorry you had to come home to that." Betty said with a blush.

"Dude,it's okay" Jellybean said nodding her head.

"It's not. I know it's awkward seeing that, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." Betty said as she sat next to JB on her bed.

"It's really fine." Jellybean said as she twirled a loose thread on her bed around her finger. 

"Are you okay?" Betty asked as she placed her hand over Jellybean's.

" Yeah." Jellybean said looking up at Betty only to see her cock her eyebrow. Jelly knew she couldn't lie to Betty at this point. 

"It's just-" Jellybean pauses as she looks for the right words.

"You can tell me anything Jelly." Betty says as she pats Jellybean on the shoulder.

"I'm glad that Jughead is back, but I don't want to sleep on my own again. I know that I sound like a baby, and that you deserve to spend time with him, and you are probably tired of sleeping with me anyways-" 

"Jellybean, you aren't a baby, and I'm certainly not tired of sleeping with you." Betty says with understanding eyes.

"Don't lie to me Betty. I know you'd probably rather sleep with Jughead." Jellybean says looking down again.

"Jellybean. Sleeping with you helps me just as much as it helps you if not more. I know that this is a hard and transitional time for you, and sometimes I think you handle it way better than I do." Betty says. Jellybean seriously doesn't believe that Betty who has survived a serial killer and still wears strength so gracefully is saying that Jellybean is 

"What do you mean? You are always so calm and level headed. I can't go a day without lashing out." Jellybean says as Betty just shakes her head.

" Believe it or not I'm not always calm. I have my fair share of melt downs I just know how to hide them which isn't always a good thing. You're thirteen, and you're still learning how to control your emotions so stuff like this is normal. That being said you are thirteen and you are helping me who is almost eighteen sleep." Betty says. Jellybean considers this for a moment.

"How do you do it?" Jellybean asks as she looks up at Betty who is genuinely listening. 

"What?" Betty asks softly.

"Balance the whole world on your shoulders." Jellybean asks Betty who contemplates the question.

"I guess I take it second by second. Trying to survive everything life throws at all at once is unbearable so I take it bit by bit and second by second." Betty says with the most genuine truth anyone has ever given her. They are both quiet for a moment, and Jellybean wonders if the conversation is over until Betty speaks again.

"Jellybean you don't have to carry everything on your own. It's okay to speak up every once in a while." Betty says and Jellybean laughs.

"Pretty ironic coming from you." Jellybean says as she nudges Betty's shoulder to which she just laughs with her.

"I know, I know. I guess irony is my talent." Betty says with a smile and a small blush. 

"I think I'll be okay sleeping on my own this weekend." Jellybean says with a self assuring nod.

"I think you will too, but just know I'll be okay sleeping with you if you need me. It's no trouble." Betty says and JB believes her, but she also knows that she's capable of two nights alone, and if Betty thinks she can do it she can.

"I'll be okay" Jellybean says with a small smile.

"Okay just don't forget to be my sleep buddy during the week. Okay?" Betty says jokingly as she nudges Jellybean and she scrunches her nose in mock disgust.

"Ew. When you say it like that I definitely will." Jellybean teases back.

"Do you think you can survive a dinner at Pop's with me and Jug for the night or is that "ew" too" Betty says as she gets up.

"Yeah, but it's your treat." Jellybean says as she stands as well.

"I agree. Are we good Jb?" They both turn to see Jughead at the doorway of Jellybean's door.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it." Jellybean says as she returns Jughead's smile.

"Okay. Now let's go get Pop's which is Betty's treat." Jughead says as he slings his arm over Betty's shoulder and pulls her into his side.

"Hey now. It was your idea to go to Pop's mister." Betty says as she playfully pokes Jughead in the chest.

  
As the two banter playfully, Jellybean ponders her and Betty's dynamic 

Ever since that night a few weeks ago the two of them have been inseparable. They talk more throughout the day than they used to, and they even spend some evenings after school working on FP's truck. It's not that Jellybean didn't like Betty before they got close. She just didn't think to try and get close with her. She knows how much Jughead loves Betty and in turn how much Betty loves him, but she always just considered Betty to be Jughead's and no one else's. She didn't want to interfere with anything which looking back was not an intelligent thought.

Betty was her own person, and had her own struggles. 

Even with the way she presented herself, she had her own inner battles, and even though Jellybean would never understand everything Betty went through she found herself relating to her. Betty was like an onion with so many layers.

Jellybean thinks Betty is an enigma she can get behind.

/fin

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all who read this. I got a random idea, and typed it out instead of doing my work. I want to see more of the Betty and Jellybean dynamic, because I feel like they have similarities that play well together besides their different family background.


End file.
